Larry Baronner, M.A., M.Ed.

Rural Health Systems Manager and Deputy Director

Larry Baronner has coordinated the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility Program (Flex) and Small Rural Hospital Improvement (SHIP) Program in Pennsylvania for the past 12 years. He has been instrumental in developing and implementing the core components of the Pennsylvania Flex program. Under Larry’s leadership the Pennsylvania Critical Access Hospital Consortium has adopted a Performance Management System using a Balanced Scorecard framework. Through projects with Penn State’s College of Engineering and Penn State Continuing Education, Critical Access Hospitals in Pennsylvania have been introduced to Lean concepts. Rural Emergency Medical Services (EMS) protocol development, rural trauma systems development, workforce assessments, and a rural health care manager’s academy also have been initiated under Larry’s guidance. Larry has served on a number of national committees and has made presentations at a numerous national conferences.

Prior to coming to the Pennsylvania Office of Rural Health, Larry was Chief Operating Officer of a hospital-owned medical practice. He also served as director of physician services and assistant director of personnel within the hospital. Larry was named “State Rural Health Leader of the Year” at the 2006 Pennsylvania Rural Health Conference.

Larry has an undergraduate degree from Saint Francis University and graduate degrees from the Pennsylvania State University and Saint Francis University.